Tuesday, July 26, 2011

tried to post yesterday, but blogger was having none of it. seems better today, so far.

while at hong kong airport on the way home, ben made a new friend, olivia! - look at her little hand!! what a coincidence!! they were thrilled to have found each other. well, she was glad to have found him... :)

finally discovering solid food! what a great soup. made right there before our eyes in the airport. cost was 58 yuan for two bowls of soup - about $9 USD, probably the cheapest thing in the airport!! and very very good, too.

on the plane for the long ride home from hong kong...

an example of "old, fat and tired."

they look remarkably peaceful!

captain says, shut that thing off...

a small part of hong kong airport and the wing of our plane (it stayed attached the entire flight!)

look at the mountains in the background... hong kong is so beautiful, despite the huge plane in the foreground...

first meal as an american citizen!! and he's eating off the table like the rest of us do! hahahaha!!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

in hong kong, again! getting a lot closer to home. :) lovely soft bed here in marriot sky city, but i couldn't sleep last night. :( an excellent breakfast - costly: $425.00!! well, HK$$... about 60 bucks US for the three of us, so still quite expensive, but unbelievable!! anything you want to eat, almost anything. even making fresh noodle soup right before your eyes. lovely stuff. beautiful room, too. still ready to come home, though!!!! :)

late check out at 2 pm, then off to the airport to wait around for 4 hours before flying home. had our last skype with the children today and the next time we see or speak to them, it will be IN PERSON!! :) they are very excited to have us coming home and can't wait to meet ben. they all want to touch him. so funny!! i guess they want to be sure he is real. :)

last trip to the white swan playroom

red couch photos

not a happy boy...

sound asleep!!

present guides: kathy and jocelyn

past guide (multiple times!): maggie! she chose a middle name for olivia.

it was pretty good food. ccai's groups filled the whole restaurant that night. we've been here four times and have never done the cow and bridge group dinner before... not sure we missed anything, though...

we leave for hong kong in two days. this trip has been so bittersweet. we've seen a large number of adoptive families, both traditional and waiting child programs. we've seen a large number of families on heritage tours, too. so many western families with asian children, it's been amazing. we see their faces and hear their perfect english and just ache for our children back home. it's been work this time, to keep our minds on the trip and do the things we need to do while we are here. keep having to remind ourselves to enjoy this trip, this very special trip to benjamin yuan yuan while it lasts. to be here, in our children's country of birth, and to have returned so many times, makes us very fortunate people. we are trying to remember that while we look for the 19th to hurry up and arrive...

some photos from around shamian island and from our dinner last night at the cow and bridge thai restaurant here on the island. after dinner, we ran back to the hotel in a massive thunderstorm. most amazing was the sheer number of people who were out casually strolling with umbrellas (read: lighting rods) while the storm pounded around them. crazy people.

no wonder there is a store on the island that sells both children's dolls and alcohol. :) photo below:

photos from around shamian island...

and of course, at lucy's, naturally. :) home away from home...

photos from around the island...

this is a fountain in someone's "front yard" and i put that in quotes for a reason, see next photo...

this photo below, is the "front yard" in which the fountain resides... if you can see through the bamboo, there is a front door in there and the fountain is to right behind the bamboo... good luck.

my password protected blog:

our timeline to benjamin

home study is complete and agency approved!!!: december 21, 2010 (a VERY happy solstice!!!!!)

HS and I-800a application and fees sent to USCIS today!!!: december 22, 2010

documents rescued from authentication at state dept and sent to chinese embassy in d.c.: december 30, 2010

documents arrive back home: january 7, 2011

dossier compiled and mailed nearly complete to ccai: january 8, 2011

have all the documents to build our dossier (except I-797 from USCIS - that will be last.)

received our federal fingerprint appointments in the mail january 22, 2011! appointment is set for february 14th. happy valentine's day! closer to our approved I-800A! (797C).

received our I-797C (I-800A pre-approval)!!!: february 25, 2011. (it was approved on feb 18 then mailed to us.)

I-797C is sealed and on it's way to our agency in colorado!!: march 3, 2011

WE ARE DTC!!! OUR DOSSIER HAS GONE TO CHINA. march 4, 2011.

our dossier has been delivered to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) march 7, 2011 (our 18th wedding anniversary!)

WE ARE LOGGED IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!march 14, 2011.

LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE HAVE A SON! :)april 14, 2011.

ccai mailed off our I-800 on april 18th. it will take approximately four weeks to get our provisional approval (PA) on this document.

I-800 PA!!!!! TWO WEEKS EARLY!!!! april 28th! it arrived here today, may 1, 2011!!! so completely unexpected! this means we could potentially travel in early july and be home by august!!!

may 10: WE ARE CABLED! the National Benefits Center (NBC) has forwarded our documents to the National Visa Center (NVC)! two and a half weeks from NVC receiving our file, we will get Article 5, which will be sent to beijing and then 2 - 4 weeks after that, our Travel Approval will be issued!

may 25: ARTICLE FIVE!!!!! 2 to 4 weeks until Travel Approval!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we will be traveling in july!!!!

june 22: grant's birthday and TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!! we will have our Consulate Appointment approved either tomorrow or friday and then will make our flight plans! we should be on a plane on july 6, 7 or 8!!!!!!! watch out, little ben! here we come!!!!